Giannis, Gary Trent Jr. join historic list with Game 3 performances vs. Pacers
Today at 11:03 PM
The Milwaukee Bucks desperately needed something to go their way in Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday after dropping the first two games of the first round on the road. Another loss would have led to more noise about Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors with the Bucks on the brink of elimination.
On Friday, Antetokounmpo and company made sure that wasn’t going to be the case. After a sluggish first half that led to Kendrick Perkins calling the Bucks “trash” at halftime, the Bucks exploded in the second half to pick up a 117-101 win and get back in the series.
Antetokounmpo was masterful as usual, especially in the third quarter where the Bucks outscored the Pacers 39-18 and completely flipped the game on its head. He finished the night with 37 points on 14-for-19 shooting to go with 12 rebounds and six assists.
Damian Lillard was back in the lineup for the second game since returning from injury, but he wasn’t the co-star for the Greek superstar on Friday night. Instead, it was Gary Trent Jr. who showed out and helped give the Bucks some juice on offense. The Duke product also finished with 37 points, shooting 11-for-16 from the floor and 9-for-12 from 3-point range.
This was a historic performance that nobody saw coming. In fact, Antetokounmpo and Trent became the first pair of Bucks teammates to each score 37 or more points in a playoff game and just the 16th pair of teammates to do it in NBA playoff history.
The list of other duos to achieve this feat includes some all-time great pairs: Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant with multiple star teammates. Now, Antetokounmpo and Trent will live on forever with one of the best two-man performances in playoff history.
Now, the Bucks will have a chance to tie the series up on Sunday in Game 4 in front of their home fans. If they can do that, they will have the best player on the floor in a whole new series and will be feeling a whole lot better about themselves.
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